Welcome To My World
by veggie5
Summary: M&M fic - AU (sorta read it & you'll see what i mean) Michael and Maria find themselves in a world different from what they're used to. **Previously titled :Parallel Universe - thanx to Cheryl for the suggestion!**
1. Default Chapter

Parallel Universe  
by: veggie_5  
  
Disclaimer:I don't own them... blah blah woof woof.   
  
Summary:Michael and Maria find out how it feels to be in each other's place. That's all  
me gonna say. :) I'm sure this storyline has been done.. but here's my own take  
on it...  
  
Distribution:Just make sure this garbled stuff is included.  
  
Feedback:Please please review... :) i love feedback.. (just make sure it's useful)  
so no flames please... Me just a person who wants to improve my writing...   
  
Spoilers:This is after Heatwave.. yup... if you can member all the way back to that ep   
:) kidding...   
  
Author's note:As always, i dedicate this to the crazy person who made this all possible. you   
know who you are.. :) and thanx for putting up with my nagging you to tape the  
episodes while i'm off here at university (tv-less) sigh   
  
oh.. and hopefully this is not too confusing.. cuz i switch back and forth   
b/w Michael and Maria's POV.. and just to clarify something.. they're not in the   
same alt universe.. they're stuck in their own one... okey? good.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
"I'm a loner. That's the way it has to be. No attachments. Nothing." Michael stated.  
  
"Michael..." Maria's eyes glistened as she tried to grab his arm to turn him around.   
  
"NO! Just go! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Michael's harsh words stunned Maria and even himself.   
The words just flew out of his mouth and he never could control his tongue.  
  
"I'm not leaving you alone! YOU HEAR? You can't just push me away!!! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?   
I thought we had an understanding..." As soon as she said the word understanding Michael   
flipped.  
  
"UNDERSTANDING???" He ran up to her till he was practically in her face then continued,   
"You could NEVER understand me!!!"  
  
There was a coldness in his eyes. "Maybe I could if you would let me!!!" She spat back.   
She was not backing down. "Your stonewall is NOT going to intimidate me, Michael Guerin!   
How can you even say I don't understand you? I know perfectly well how you feel! You're   
running away from your problems again. You're a COWARD!"   
  
"You think just because we kiss a little you suddenly can read me mind? Think again, DeLuca.   
I'm a freak, remember? JUST GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!!!  
  
Suddenly there was a flash of light as lightning struck a telephone wire nearby. Sparks flew   
everywhere and Maria screamed. Panic filled Michael as he lunged towards Maria to protect her   
from the sparks.   
  
"MARIA!!!!"   
  
Then everything went black.  
  
"MARIA!!! MARIA!!!" Maria groaned as she rubbed her aching forehead. Mom? What happened to   
Michael? The last thing she remembered was fighting with Michael and then the lightning   
happened and there were sparks everywhere. Oh God! Was he hurt? And where on earth was she?   
She sat up slowly and opened her eyes. She gasped in horror. She was on a tattered couch with   
garbage all over the floor. This wasn't the soap factory anymore and she was definitely not in   
her room. Okay? Wake up Maria!   
  
"MARIA! YOU LAZY SLOB! GET YOUR BUTT OUT HERE!" Whoa. Since when was mom so harsh? She   
slowly tumbled off the couch and headed towards the door. As she was walking she managed to   
step on a zillion popcans. Aw for crying out loud! She winced in pain as her bare feet crushed   
the metal beneath her.   
  
There was her mother looking into the fridge with her back facing Maria. Maria couldn't   
pinpoint the weird feeling growing in her stomach but she knew something was wrong. Amy DeLuca   
spun around. Her hair was messy and looked like it never touched a comb in it's entire lifetime.   
Her eyes were droopy and there were dark sags under them. Wrinkles were all over her face. It   
looked as if she had aged 50 years or something. She was definitely not the same vibrant person   
Maria knew. Maria squinted. The woman standing in front of her looked like her mother yet at   
the same time, she looked like a total stranger.  
  
"WHAT ARE YOU GAWKING AT, YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING?" Amy put her head in the fridge again. "Why   
isn't there any food in here? I thought I told you to go fill this fridge! Don't you have ears?   
NOW GET OUT AND GET ME SOME FOOD BEFORE I KNOCK SOME SENSE IN YOU!" Maria's mind kept telling   
her to get out, but her body wasn't listening. She was scared out of her mind and her feet   
were frozen. Frustrated with Maria, Amy stomped over and slapped Maria hard in the face.   
"GO, YOU FREAK!" And suddenly Maria could feel her feet again. She bolted out of the door.   
Tears streamed down her face. Maria was so confused. Her mother never lay a hand on her before.   
And she had never ever said anything remotely as harsh as she just did. She turned around and   
suddenly she noticed that she had just run from a trailer. What's going on here???  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
"Mickey!"  
  
Michael's head shot up at the sound of that voice. Hank? His head was throbbing. He was too   
afraid to answer. What if Hank was drunk again? He might start hitting me and yelling at me   
for no reason.  
  
"Hey Sleepyhead! You're going to be late for school if you don't get up soon. Hurry up and   
get dressed. Breakfast is going to get cold. Oh and by the way, I have to go out of town on   
a business trip, so I'll be gone the rest of the week. You can manage by yourself, right?   
Okay, I'll see you next week, son." And the door shut. Son? Business trip? Since when did   
Hank work? And since when did Hank act so fatherly? He pinched himself to wake up from this   
bizarre dream. No such luck. All he succeeded in doing was cause a small red mark on his arm.   
He waved his hand over the mark to make it disappear. But for some reason it wasn't working.   
  
"WHAT THE...???!!!" He muttered to himself. The door opened again.  
  
"Son, I'm not kidding! Stop staring into space and get ready." Hank said sternly. Michael   
nodded and hurried to get out of there.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Maria ran towards her locker. click Phew! At least it was still her locker. She still   
couldn't get that horrible picture of her mother out of her head. It just didn't make any sense.   
And the things her mother said... they... well, they hurt. As if she didn't have enough problems   
with Michael... now her mother was... who knows what was wrong with her. Maria started to feel   
a tingle in her hands but the fact that her life basically sucked made her ignore it. She   
slammed her locker with such a force it caused the whole locker door to fall off. CRASH!!!   
Maria's head snapped up as she realized that not only was her locker door on the ground but the   
whole row of lockers were swung wide open. Okey? That's it! I have officially gone insane!   
She screamed at the top of her lungs.   
  
Just then, Liz was walking down the hall until she saw Maria's sudden outburst. She darted   
towards Maria. "Ohmigod, Liz..." Maria started to say but she was cut short by Liz, who was   
glaring at her. She yanked her into a corner.  
  
"MARIA." She gritted her teeth. "What do you think you're doing?! There's people everywhere.   
What happens if they saw your superhuman strength??? It could've raised some suspicions!"   
Maria's jaw hung wide open. "Well?? Aren't you going to say something??"   
  
"Liz... I ... uh... I gotta go. I'm late for class." Maria grabbed her books and rushed into   
history class.  
  
"Well well, Miss DeLuca has finally decided to grace us with her presence! And to what pleasure   
do we owe this once in a lifetime appearance?" Mr. Hartson said sarcastically. This was getting   
too weird. Mr. Hartson was one of her favourite teachers and was never rude or harsh towards her.   
"Just sit your butt down. When you come in late I ask you not to disturb the entire class, Miss   
DeLuca." He said as he rolled his eyes. Maria rushed to the empty seat beside Michael.   
Michael??? In class??? And on time too??? This had to be some sort of weird dream, because   
nothing made any sense.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Michael walked down the hallway and caught sight of a blonde head that he would recognize   
anywhere. He weaved his way through the crowd and tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around   
and stared at him.  
  
"Hey." He smiled weakly.  
  
"What do you want, Michael??" She snapped back causing Michael to step back. He knew that she   
was probably still angry at him for his outburst last night but he wanted to apologize.  
  
"I'm..." He started to apologize but stopped when he realized she had walked away from him before   
he could even speak. He rushed to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Michael, look. I said everything I had to say. So just leave me alone!" She pushed his hand   
away and started to move. But Michael wasn't giving up. He reached for her again to stop her.  
This time Maria grabbed his arm before he could and she stared at him with cold, unfeeling eyes.   
"I don't get intense like this. I'm sorry if you thought there was more between us, but there   
isn't. Okey?! We were just sucking face!!! That's all it was! So why don't you just make   
this easier on yourself and STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!!!" And with that she stormed away and   
this time Michael was too dumbfounded to even say or do anything. He just stood there looking   
like an idiot watching Maria disappear into the crowd. He felt a hand on his shoulder.   
  
"It's for the best, Michael. We don't belong with them. They're... well... you know...   
Czechoslovakian." What on earth was Max talking about???   
  
TBC...  
  
~~~~~~~~  
Okey... i have no idea what to do now... i HAD a plan... if you have any suggestions that would  
be so greatly appreciated... and i don't like the title i have for this.. little help? :)  
  



	2. Here comes trouble.

okey. i know it's been a while since i've posted, but i've been having major trouble trying to figure out what i want to happen next. so please forgive me :) i'm always open to suggestions, though. if you have any neat ideas or stuff to improve this.. i'm all ears. as always, review please. (even though there isn't much added) i get so giddy when i receive feedback. just also wanted to say thanx to that one person who put this on their fave list... you can't imagine how much that means to me! :)  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"What are you talking about??? Czechoslovakian???" Michael shouted at Max, utterly confused.  
  
Max continued, "Look, they're just so much different from us. I mean, we don't even know if it's humanly possible to be with them. There are just so many questions that we can't answer. It's just better to stay away from them. It's safer for them and for us."  
  
Just then Liz walked by and flashed Max a smile. "Hey Max." Max suddenly felt as if his tongue was frozen.   
  
"... uh... uh... hi Liz..." Max stuttered out. His face suddenly started to redden and he could feel his palms getting sweaty.   
  
Liz, not able to think of anything else to say started to walk off. "I'll see you in biology, right?"   
  
"...yah... right." Max started to shift uncomfortably and his eyes were constantly looking everywhere but her face.  
  
"Okay then. Later." She headed down the hall as Max was still standing there flushed from embarassment.   
  
Michael smirked. "And tell me again about how we should stay away from them."   
  
"Stay away from who?" A sweet voice asked. They both turned to see Isabel looking at them questioningly.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Maria was gratful that the class was over. It seemed as if Mr. Hartson chose today to be "Pick on Maria" day. She sighed deeply as she opened her locker to put away her textbooks. Could this day get any worse??? Suddenly a pair of arms grabbed her shoulders and spun her around.   
  
"I'M ON TO YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS, DE LUCA!" She found herself pinned against the wall firmly. Maria's eyes widened in fear as she stared directly into the face of Ms. Topolsky.   
  
"I... I ...I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"You kids might have blown my cover but I'll find out the truth about you one way or another, you can count on that." She pushed Maria into the lockers and ran out of the building.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
okey i know that was WAY too short... like i said... major writer's blockage happening here.. sorry if this story is going too slowly. i guess i'm still waiting for some inspiration or an idea to spark up.... apologies again. 


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